According to Brian Tracy, the most important quality you can develop to achieve greater success and happiness is the quality of Optimism.

For years, I thought that an optimist was an overly happy, zealous person! In light of some of my life’s travails, I would not have considered myself to be an optimist; frankly, I thought that too much optimism was a weakness. However, my theories do not bode well with Brian Tracy! Brian says that optimists look for the good in every situation, especially when they experience reversals and setbacks; optimists take these uncertainties and see them as valuable lessons. Successful, happy people are optimists. In light of this new found revelation, I have begun to work every day at becoming more of an optimist.

In addition to looking for good and seeking the valuable lesson, optimists have seven ways of thinking about themselves. Their seven ways to thinking are that they:

Think about the future.

First, in that they are positive, happy people, they are future-oriented. They think and talk about the future much of the time. They think about where they are going, rather than what has happened in the past.

Think about their goals.

Second, optimists are goal-oriented. They think and talk about their goals often. Once they have dreamt and fantasized about their goals, they boil them down into clear, written, and concise goals that they work on every day.

Think about Excellence.

Third, optimists are excellence-oriented. They commit to becoming excellent at what they do; their goals are to always hover in the top 10 percentile of people in their field.

Think about the Solution.

Fourth, optimists are solution-oriented. They think about the solution rather than the problem. They think about what needs to be done rather than who is to blame.

Think about Results.

Fifth, optimists are result- oriented. They carefully plan each day in advance. They set clear priorities for their activities. They then work on the tasks that represent the most valuable use of their time. They plow through enormous amounts of work and are known as highly productive people.

Think about Growth.

Sixth, Optimists are growth-oriented. They are continually reading, listening to audio programs, and so forth. They are determined to stay on the cutting edge of their fields.

Think about Action.

Seventh and the perhaps foremost, optimist tend to be the most successful people, they are intense action- oriented individuals. They think about what they can do right now to move faster toward their goals. They are in constant motion. They work in real time, while always maintaining a sense of urgency.

Needless to say, optimism is an important quality that can be developed in order to achieve greater success and happiness. You can learn the habit of becoming an optimist by thinking the way that optimists do for most of their time. Let us strive to be a little more optimistic!